#6 and #8 update

6 green

This is the look of 6 green from about 100 yards out. It is hard to see but the bunkers are taking shape. The left side bunker is in. The front bunker goes from the machine closest to the camera, across the front of the green leaving a narrow walk way onto the green. There is also a green side bunker just to the left of the machine in the back ground. That large mound of dirt next to the smaller machine will be moved. The hope is to have these bunkers built, sand installed, and maybe some grass around them by the end of the weekend.



8 green in the snow on Friday.

Here is the look from just in front of the red tee on 8. The camera cut off part of the hole, but captures the greenside. You can see the new fairway bunker on the lower left of the frame. Moving clockwise, there is the new greenside bunker taking shape. There is a lot happening on the right side of the frame. There are three bunkers going up to hill to the green where the tree use to stand. On the very bottom of the picture there is the top of a machine, this is where a another fairway bunker will be placed. The two old fairway bunkers on the left that are out of the frame will be removed and replaced with some mounding to deflect balls from going out of bounds.

Hey look, it's snowing again!?!?

Here we go again....

Just in case you have not had enough of winter, it's snowing again. Oh joy! (I hope you can feel the sarcasm) Now that we have finally return to getting work completed on course, Mother Nature shows up to wreck our plans. Although we had nearly a half of an inch of rain overnight, hopefully we stay on the lower end of the snow and ice accumulation range and get back to work sooner rather than later.

Last week we were able to get a full week of work and make great progress. I'm sorry I do not have any pictures, but check back later in the week. All the work on numbers 1 and 10 was completed. Some sod was laid on the right side of 1 and around the bunkers on 10. Once we get back and are able to get sod, the rest will be sodded. The work on 7 has been completed as well. The bunkers were built, drained, sanded and have some sod around them. All the bunkers that were completed had a ring of 3-4 pieces of sod to protect the sand from getting mud and other debris in them. It may look a bit odd but there is a rhyme and reason for doing it that way.

The bulk of the visual work was done on 6. The entire green surround was stripped, old bunkers removed, new bunkers and features added, and bunker drainage outfalls installed to get the rain and snow water out. Once we can get back to work Andrew will return and we will be able to move forward with the final tweaks. At that point we will move on to 8. They also started constructing the new forward red tee on number 6. One of the biggest complaints was the big slice needed off the red tee to reach the fairway. The new tee is more centrally located setting up the player much better.

The boys are back in town!!

In my best Thin Lizzy voice, the construction crew is back to complete the work on the remaining 5 holes. With any luck and cooperation from the weather, they will be out of here by the end of March. 

If there are any bird watchers out there, we've had some special visitors the past couple of days. These two juvenile Tundra Swans have taken up residence in the ponds on 15. They must have liked the "tundra" we've had here this winter. From the research I've done on the internet, they are just passing through to their summer grounds from coastal regions in the southeast. 

Turning it green!

If you have not been able to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather, the guys have turned the place green the last 4 days. They have put down approximately 2 acres of grass. Hopefully the rain will hold off and they can get a couple more holes finished. 

Range update!!!!

Holy mackerel! Has it really been 3 weeks since we started the range project? With member-member and aerification time has flown by. The next thing you know it will be Christmas. Barring anything unforeseen, the project will be completed by the end of next week. The crew will be wrapping up by laying sod and doing a few odds and ends.

Short game area

This is the view from bridge of the short game area. In the immediate foreground is the practice bunker. The grey looking area is the chipping green. This bunker can accommodate 6 players hitting to an actual green, to give you the on course feel to your practice session. We will be seeding the chipping green in the coming weeks and it will be ready for play in 6-8 weeks. There will be fairway height grass all the way back to the bridge from 12 green. Adjacent to the right of the chipping green, the flat area is the championship/blue tee. Where the cart is parked in the middle of the picture is where the new white/blue tee is located. The other flat area (not pictured) is the new gold tee. These tees will be sodded within the next 10 days and will be ready in a few weeks.

Fairway practice bunker

 The one piece of feedback we got for the range was the need for a bunker to practice fairway bunker shots.   This will give players a 40-50 yard shot into the chipping green. In turn, you will be able to turn the other direction and hit onto the range for practice of any distance you chose. This will cover any situation that you may encounter during your round. The area between the bunker and the green will all be fairway grass. Fairway also extends off the left hand margin of the picture. This coupled with the area between the creek and green gives players multiple angles and distances up to 50 yards to hone their short game.

close up of grass, not very exciting.

 The main tee was sodded about 10 days ago and is coming right along.  The new tee is comprised of bermudagrass. This is different than the grass on course but was chosen for its ability to recover from divots. The sod's roots have tacked, and as you can see above the seams have started to knit. We are hoping to mow it for the first time either late this week or the first of next week. At this point we are looking to have the tee open around the middle of September. Soon we will open the mats to allow wood and long iron practice. The far end of the range will remain open until the grass tee is ready to have someplace to hit mid to short irons off turf.

More of an on course feel.

In front of the tee is rough height grass. This is to give the practice experience a more realistic on course feel. With any sport, simulating real "in game" situations will help improve your experience and sharpen your skills.     The project has progressed well and I believe the new range will be a great amenity for the club for years to come.

Not all grass was created equal.

As we are hopefully coming to the end of the dog days of summer, the different types of grasses on the course are becoming more visible. Through the summer the greens have held up well with the exception of a few areas on the new expansions. Other areas have not been as fortunate.

Not exactly desirable conditions.

The picture above was taken in the fairway on #12 in one of the birdbath low areas that held water most of the spring and summer. The green grass where the ball is sitting is 100% bentgrass. The surrounding dead area was 100% Poa Annua. Bentgrass has a better ability to withstand wet feet and does a better job of deep rooting than Poa. One thing to remember Poa Annua's common name is Annual Bluegrass. It is an annual plant. Just like the geraniums and impatiences you plant every year, they die at the end of the season. These areas will be seeded in the coming weeks with bentgrass to prevent this from happening in the future.

New rough sod at the beginning of #1 fairway.

The same situation has been apparent in the rough as well. The photo above is of the newly sodded area in front of #1 fairway. The foreground is the old hodgepodge of grasses and the new sod that is mostly fescue is in the distance.  In a rough grass situation, fescue stands up to heat, drought, and wet conditions better that Poa or ryegrass and is more disease resistant as well. Like the fairways, thin areas in the rough will be seeded soon with fescue to deliver a better stand of turf in the future.

Best looking spot on the range tee.

I found this area on the range tee to be interesting. As anyone who has practiced recently will tell you, the range tee has taken the summer on the chin. The few areas that are green, and not weeds, were bentgrass, bermudagrass, or like above, a mixture of both. 

Speaking of the range tee, we will start construction on Monday, August 5th. The grass we have selected to cover the tee is a new variety of bermudagrass that is more cold tolerant and has a finer texture. The reasons we chose to go with bermuda are, it is growing like gangbusters when the tee is being used the most (May-October). Bermuda stands up to wet conditions very well. The first course I worked on was all bermudagrass except for the greens. I remember having runners growing out into the ponds. The final reason was bermuda's ability of recover from divots. The picture below was taken when I visited the sod farm this week. This area was harvested the first of May. The deep green area in the middle was bare ground, 36 inches wide. The margins of the picture was where grass was left for it to recover the harvested area. If you'd like to read more about the variety of bermudagrass we've selected, click here and here!!

Picture from sod farm.

 

Holes and hydros. (and holes IN hydros)

This is what it looks like right after it happens. We all know what it looks like a few days later.

I guess, when it rains pours. And no, I am not talking about the weather earlier in the summer.  We've experienced our third hydraulic in as many weeks. In the past 3 years here at BCC I can only remember 2, both in the rough. In the previous 9 years before I came to BCC I only remember 3 or 4. All three of the recent leaks were on different parts of the machine, and in the fairways.

For those unfamiliar with the workings of turf equipment, hydraulic fluid is the life blood of these machines. This fluid pumped at high pressure (1000 + PSI) and high temperture (150 + degrees F) and drives the motors the spin the reels to cut, and drives the power train to move the machine.  When one of the lines fails it spews the fluid on the grass, killing it on contact.

It is my experience that nothing helps reduce turf loss once the leak has occurred. I have tried scrubbing the grass with Dawn dish washing soap the dissipate the oil. I have also put down activated charcoal to try to absorb the oil. Both times it still resulted in a streak of dead grass.  Replacing all of the hoses is not a viable option either. It would be cost prohibitive replacing 30 plus rubber hoses and fittings, and numerous custom bent metal pipes.

Little holes everywhere!

This coming Monday (7/29) we will be doing a solid, deep tine aerification on all the greens. I know some are thinking, "why are you going to aerify now, when you are going to be closed for 2 days in just a couple of weeks?" What we are doing Monday is different than the core aerification in August. The purpose of the deep tine is to go into the soil profile and break up a hard layer of soil in the greens.

It's hard to tell, but there is a lot going on in this picture.

In the picture above the hard layer begins where the key is pointing between 2.5 and 3 inches. If you look closely you can see some old aerification holes with lighter colored sand going through the profile. At about 4 inches on the tape measure the layer has not been disrupted. The deep tine is going down 6 to 7 inches and fracturing the hard pan layer. This allows roots to go deeper and gets oxygen and water into the soil, making a healthier grass plant.  The core aerification we do later in August removes a plug to a depth of between 2 to 3 inches. We then fill those holes with sand to amend the soil and increase healing. It would be virtually impossible to fill the deep holes. The core aerification has a lot more holes and a shallower depth. It would take an enormous amount of sand and be extremely difficult to work the sand into the holes.

Roots holding strong to 4 inches, roots thin at 2.5 inches where the soil is cracking.